Railway-tie.



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NORMAN J. MCLEAN AND ERNEST SWANSON, OE BAY CITY, MICHIGAN. RAILWAY-TIE.

- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 41, 190'?.V

Appucaion sied April so. 190s. serial No. V314.445.

To all whom, it xmay concern:

Be 1t known that we, NORMAN J. MCLEAN and ERNEST SWANSON, citizens of the United States, residing at B Bay and'State of certain new and useful Improvements in Rallway-Ties; and We do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact descripy C ity, in the county of ltion of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

' This invention relates to'railwayties, and more particularly to that class 'of ties wherein the use of wood or other cushioning substance 1s economized as far as possible. f i Owing to the growing scarcityof wood and 1ts 'gli price, the ex ense of equipping and v renewing a road-be with ties, even where they have been treated to resist deca ,is veryvconvsiderable, and many attempts ave' been made to 'provide an inexpensive tie,

v either of metal or plastic substance,which will' prove a satisfactory substitute for the wooden ties. The great majority of s'uch substitutes have failed to prove themselves satisfactory, owing to the number of requirements necessary. In the first place, a tie must have a certain yielding or cushioning resistance vto `the pounding 'of the wheels of a train On the metals. -Again, 1n winter the frost often upheavesy the rails, loosening them relative to l constructing the track the rails may not bev the ties or raising both ties and lrails at various points not ina uniform manner, but here and there,and if the track is not immediately repaired grave dangers result; or in laid exactly parallel, jthe rails themselves not being in alinement, causing what are known as kinks, and it becomes necessary to ease ltherails over in one direction or the other to bring the ends of the railsinto alinement and even the track. Kinks may also develop after the vtrack has been laid. .Fur-

thermore, it-is desirable that the ties substituted for'the woodenones be as easily han-l idled as the Wooden ties and that the 'rails may be 4as ex editiously secured .to andremoved from t. e substitute ties as from the Thi invention lastingl much lo ver than-'fthe Michigan, have invented completely, there to replace, since the body portion of thetie is practically indestructible, while the Wearing portions of the ties may be renewed sin ly or together at any time. Tle substitution of new wearin portions for the old ones is effected in muri ing in expense over kthe replacing of the wooden ties, and our ties are more stable in the bed, lsince they are practically covered b the material. of which the bed is compose nor do they require as bold an embankment,

less time and at a great savowing to their fend formation, as do the wooden ties.

The invention also has for an object the provision of novel means for removabl' retaining the wearing -portions of the tie in place in such manner that YAYaccess is easily obtained thereto.

To the foregoing and other ends, therefore, this invention consists in certain novel' features and combinations of parts, together with their equivalentssuch as will be more fully .described hereinafter and particularly point-l ed out inthe claims. f f

, In the accompanying drawings, illustrating one embodiment of the invention, Figure'- 1 is a side view of our invention, partly in section. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a p ortlon of a tie. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectIonal vlew on the lines of Figs. 1 and 2. 4 is an enlarged detail side view of the removable fas,

tening for retaining the end plates in position. Fig. 5 is atop plan view of the same. Fig. 6 is a detail view of the bolt alone, and Fig. 7 is a detail perspective view of the removable plate'.

A indicates thev body portion of the tie,

comprising, in `effect, a metallic trough cut away, as at 1, between its ends, the ends of the trough being reduced or inclined, as at 2 2. bed and-is cut away centrally of its length-in order lthat the ballast may be filled in between the sides :of the trough y forming an even Walla intermediate the rails and preventing the enthe rails, covering This trough is-embedded in the road-l I-C O gement of dragging brake-rods and the K e with the trough. The opposite ends of the trough are inclined, so as to reduce the face of the embankment as much as ossible andv effect' a saving in ex ense and aber in A maintaining the same. 1 e may also employ Aa brace,as 3, extending across between the 'upper ed es ofthe sides of the trough 1nter-` mediate t e ends thereof.

' The bottom of the trough is `preferably IIO other, as shown.

raised or arched. in order that the ballast may be tamped beneath it more easily and to give it a broad firm foundation to prevent it from slipping laterally, the side walls of the trough being inclined or converging toward each We also perforate the bottom of the trough, as shown at 5, to permit moisture to drain out.

Intermediate the reduced ends of the trough and Ithe cut-away portion 1 at the highest points of the trough wc insert the cushioning blocks 6 6, which may be of wood or pulp, as preferred, the length of each block being but a fraction of the length of the trough. The sides of the block incline toward cach other to conform to the cross-sectional area of the trough, the blocks being slipped in endwise of the trough. The ends of the blocks are also inclined toward each other, imparting to the block a truncated pyramidal shape, broadest at the base. The inner ends-ofthe blocks y abut the stationary inclined plates 7 7, se-

cured in the trough in any suitable manner,

as by means of langes 3 8, fastened to thesides and bottom of the trough, and are thus held against inward movement.

, The outer ends of the blocks are covered 'and the blocks prevented from outward movement by means of the removable plates 9 9, flanged on opposite sides, as at 10 10, and having perforations 11 1 1,formed through the angles where the flanges join the plate. The lower edges ofthe lates conform to the contour of the troug -and are each provided withbent tongues 1 2, adapted to passthrough apertures-in the"arch of. the trough to hold the lower portionsof'the plates stationary and enable them toiresist any tendency of the blocks to spread apart, the tongues preferably beingcurved or bent, as shown.

, The a ertures 11 11 in the upper portions of the pfates are arran ed to lie opposite the protruding .apertu-red dugs 13 13, formed in the trough,.the aperturesand the lugs adapted to receive the bolts 14 14, the heads of which conform to the angle formedgby the pla-te 9 and the flanges 10 10, the stems of the bolts being slotted, as at 15 15, to receive the wedge-shaped split keys' 16 16. The bolts pass through or engage the corners of theA outer ends of the blocks 6 6, and by reason of the downward incline imparted to the lugs or ears 13 13 the bolts as they are drawn tight by the wedges serve to impart an inward and downward stress to the blocks to hold them .firmly seated, besides clamping the blocks, The walls of the trough are recessed, as at 17 17, on opposite sides of'the blocks to permit a certain amount of wear of the block before .the rail secured thereon engages the walls of the trough. Also in order, to facilitate hand ling and positioning the ties we provide holes 18 18 at the opposite ends thereof, the holes designed to receive the pick ends of the track layers, whereby the ties may be pulled endwise in laying the track to bring them into position.

Vhen either of the blocks 6 hasbecome worn out, all that is necessary is to remove the ballast from the reduced end of' the trough and from around the wedge-shaped keys 16 16, knock 'outV the keys, draw the bolts 14 14, and tilt the removable plate 9, so that the tongue may be drawn out of the aperture in thev base of the trough, after which the rail maybe loosened from the block, the latter driven out of the trough by a smart blow, a new block'inserted, and the parts replaced. It is obvious that either block can be renewed independently of the other in case of unequal wear thereon, thus effecting a saving over the old form of tie, which had to be entirely removed. This re newal ofthe blocks is accom lished without raising the rail. In case of kin s the rails may beloosened from the blocks and eased over to bring the track into alinement, after which the rail is again `spiked to the blocks, which latter are made long enough to accommodate tracks of dierent gages and rails of different sizes. Where the track is heaved by frost or other means, so that the rails adjacent the heaved portions are raised from the ties, all that is necessary is to place shims of wood or pulp between the raised rails and the ties, as in the old forms of ties, or if the ties and rails have both. been raised out of the road-bed, the ballast is tamped beneath the ties'so raised.

The base of the tie is perfectly smooth and unobstructed by flanges or the like, thus permitting the tie to be readily'drawn into or out of position, the tie being given the usual eight-foot bearing of the wooden tie, and owing to the bevel or inclination given the sides of the blocks they cannot work loose in the boxes or move upwardly, and this is furthermore stren thenedl by the provision of the bolts and eys.v Should the blocks warp or shrink, all that is necessary is to drivethe keps farther into the slots, they bolts being s otted throughout such a portion of then' length that the keys engage the outer ends of the lugs aswell as the outer ends of the slots.

It is evident that we have roduced a tie combining the advantages of t e old wooden ties with those of the composite or metallic ties, at the same time considerably simplifying and improving the constructions previously on the market, and as many changes might be made in the form and arrangements of the several parts described we do not wish to limit ourselves to the exact construction herein set forth.

Having thus fully disclosed our invention, what weclaim as new is- 1. A tie comprising a trough-shaped body portion, cushioning-blocks received in the trough, means for preventing movement of IOC IIC

' the blocks one direction, removable plates for preveiiti-ng'movement of the cushioning 'fastening means means away from each other, the loWer edges of the plates being cut away tov conform to the shape of the bot'tom'of the trough vand and the Walls of t e trough for retaining the plates in position.

1;, 3f A tie comprising av trough, the Walls'of 'which are inclined toward each other,cush ioningfbloclis received endw'ise inthe trou h Abetween`.the Walls, the blocks being 'in t e shape of a-truncated pyramid, stationary inclinedf plates Avsecured Within the trou h againstwhich vtheinner ends of the bloc bear-,removable plates located at the outer ends of' the' blocks, -and fastening means passing through the removable plates and the 'sides ofthe troughrespectivel'y to retain theY .plates-in position.

f4.. A'y t1e com risingarmetallic trough,

cushioning-bloc s received in the trough nearlthe opposite ends`thereof, removable plates for retaining the blocks against movement in one direction, the plates each provided Witha tongue passing through an apassingthrough the Vplates Walls of t erture in the trough, andfastening means passing through the plates and the sides of thel trough respectively for retaining the plates in'position.v

5. A` tie comprising a metallic trough, cushioningfblocks located near the o posite ends of the trough, removable plates or preventing movement ofthe blocks in one directlon, apertured `ianges on the plates, ap-

f t e ertured lugs projecting from the Walls'o trough, s otted fastenin means passing through the plates and ugs, and Wedge'- shaped keys received in the slots, thekeys engaging the lugs to hold the fastening meanstightly in place. v

6.' A tie comprising a metallic trough, cushioning-blocks received therein, removable apertured plates for retainin the blocks in place, apertured downwardly-inclined lugs projectlngfrom the Walls of the trouglh and fastening' means passing throughv plates and lugs. y

7. A tie comprising ay metallic trough, cushioning-blocks received therein, remov- .able apertured plates for retaining the blocks in place, apertured lugs projecting from the e trough and fastening means passing through the plates and lugs.

In testimony whereof We aflix our signatures irl-presence' of'two Witnesses.

NORMAN J. MCLEAN. ERNEST SWANSON.

Witnessesz- A A. EASTERLY, RALPH S. WARFIELD. 

